Mail domain: India's oldest stamp on display

ldquoIfayin you chop onions nowhelliprdquo the lady of the house peeps into the kitchen to say Ifayin responds with an unhappy nod as she returns to her group sure that her guests will appreciate the kachumbar she will serve along with Chicken Tikka at her first party in Nigeria Twenty minutes later Ifayin has disappeared She pulls off the event but intends to wring the stewardrsquos neck when he shows up He didnrsquot When a maid bumps into him later Ifayin explains ldquoMadam was very cruelrdquo She told me to ldquoChop onionsrdquo he complains Believing he was being punished Ifayin had quit Chef Raphael in striped tee inside Wazobiarsquos Kitchen PicsAnjana Vaswani Madam will eventually learn that the word ldquoChoprdquo in Pidgin means ldquoEatrdquo and shersquoll be grateful she hadnrsquot asked Ifayin to chop the meat before the party Shersquoll also learn that itrsquos possible to ldquoChop Liferdquo which translates as ldquoliving life to the fullestrdquo Indians in Nigeria pick up this English dialect and flaunt it too Itrsquos a different ball game for chef Raphael Amechi in Mumbai who has lived here for fifteen years He has not only refined his English but can also speak Hindi Gujarati and Marathi Plantain and Okra Stew Just like us At the Vashi eatery Wazobiarsquos Kitchen whose name combines titles of Nigerian tribes 40yearold Amechi from Lagos Nigeriarsquos capital city introduces us to his native dishes as he tells us what itrsquos like to be a Nigerian in a city that he describes as ldquoa peaceful place but not accommodatingrdquo Nigeriarsquos Sunday Mba C celebrates with his team after scoring a goal against Burkina Faso in the 2013 African Cup of Nations final against Burkina Faso on February 10 2013 at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg PICAFPu00a0 35yearold Chef Omo Okhuoya from Edo State Southcentral Nigeria who runs the eateryrsquos Juhu outlet isnrsquot around but over the phone she too expresses her surprise at the general attitude here especially since she observes ldquoWe have a similar culture In Nigeria too there are Muslims Christians and Hindus living togetherrdquo Okhuoya moved to Mumbai from Afuze village a decade ago and is now a congregant at St Josephrsquos Church Juhu She grew up watching Amitabh Bachchan films ldquoIndian films are popular back homerdquo Serpentrsquoshex films such as the 1980s movie Nagina are particularly favoured because as she says ldquoThough itrsquos disappearing gradually we also have a JuJu culture there mdash faith in superstitions and magicrdquo Nigeria on a platter Back at his Vashi eatery Amechi offers us a taste of a potent tomato stew prepared with meat stock an okra and chicken dish and a spinach recipe with a couple of strips of fried plantain He points at an image of what looks like Biryani and explains that in the Nigerian variant the emphasis is on the flavour of the meat rather than overpowering masalas He also shares that many Nigerian ingredients are unavailable here From a counter on one side of the small room Amechi pulls out hundredrupeesachets as he lists the items he must bring down to cater to the local communityrsquos demands Igusi and Ogbono seeds used to make soup dark dried Bitterleaf typically washed with salt and squeezed to dilute the bitterness before stirring into recipes and the essential red palm oil 500 per 500ml Home truths We bite into the mildly sweet plantain to attenuate the intense flavours and bitter undertone of the stews as Amechi tells us about being forced to vacate the space he rented at Crawford Market after he had spent a large sum to renovate it and about a neighbour at the new Vashi address going all out to bully him into shutting down ldquoOne Nigerian does something wrong and we all get painted with the same brushrdquo he says But he isnrsquot going anywhere sharing the story of how his initial trips to Mumbai were to source fabrics to sell in Nigeria mdash ldquoPrints and chikanwork are in big demand thererdquo mdash until he realised therersquos a huge Nigerian subculture here and therefore a demand for Nigerian food Switching streams came naturally since his mother runs a small restaurant in Oshodi a 50 sq km patch in Lagos which according to figures published on the government website accommodates 1 million people Amechirsquos fivemonthold son stays there and so he visits home every six months Okhuoya too has a son in Nigeria but ldquoHersquos not a babyrdquo she says so annual trips suffice This is her home now she says breaking into a Hindi song thatrsquos been playing in her head all day ldquoJee Le Zarahelliprdquo she croons amid giggles We hope the city lets them MapAmit Bandre USP Wazobiarsquos Kitchen makes a delicious groundnut chicken stew which is nicely complemented by Fufu or pounded yam At Shop no 9 Sai Prasad Building Plot No 63 Sector 14 Vashi To order Raphael Amechi 65261888 65153666 or Omo Okhuoya 9819703864u00a0